STEVENS POINT - A Stevens Point committee will recommend the City Council approve an over-budget bid to repaint Stanley Street from four lanes to three lanes.

Members of the city's Board of Public Works voted 4-3 on Monday in favor of a $96,900 bid. The city previously budgeted $60,000 for the controversial project and has already spent about $6,000 of that amount on consultation. Only one company submitted bids to the city for the project.

"To have an amount come in that much over and to just say, 'Oh, that's all right. We'll still move forward with it,' that's absolutely reckless and it's disappointing," said City Council member Jeremy Slowinski, one of the board members who voted against awarding the contract.

The city put forward two options for the project to prospective bidders, repainting from Michigan to Indiana avenues or a route three blocks shorter from Michigan to Lindbergh avenues. The lone bidder, Century Fence Co., said it could do the longer project for about $96,900 and the shorter version for about $83,000, regardless of the type of paint used.

The city failed to attract bids the first time it sought them over the summer, then tried again.

Committee members discussed delaying the project until 2019 so the city could bid the project for a third time in the spring. Public Works Director Scott Beduhn said they would have a better a chance of receiving bids from more than one company and possibly bring down the cost.

Even if the full City Council approves the bid when it meets Monday, cooler fall weather could prevent the project from happening this year because the paint might not properly adhere to the road, Beduhn said.

City Treasurer Corey Ladick and City Council members Tori Jennings, Mary Kneebone and Mary McComb voted in favor of awarding the contract. Mayor Mike Wiza joined Slowinski and City Council member Shaun Morrow in voting no.

Beduhn said his department still has money in the pot this year to complete the project but that other projects have run over budget this year.

Ladick said he voted for it because Beduhn indicated to him his department had the funds available to fill the gap. He also said that the council had made its will clear when it voted 8-3 in May to move forward with the project.

Dave Wysocki, owner of Wysocki Tax and Accounting on Minnesota Avenue and Stanley Street, has opposed the three-lane conversion for a number of reasons, including his belief it will worsen traffic and not address safety concerns.

"You guys have already decided that you want to go with this. It was decided a long, long, long time ago... Pardon my English, but you don't give a damn what the community says," Wysocki told the board. "You're pushing your agenda. It's what you want done."

A majority of the City Council has contended the project would make the road safer and accessible and would be a way to reinvest in that part of the city.

Wiza said the city should wait until next year and find a way to fill the gap between what was budgeted this year and the bid because unspent money this year can be carried over. He also noted that the city already had to cut $5 million from next year's capital improvement budget.

The committee also voted to not install stop signs at the intersection of Stanley Street and Minnesota Avenue at this time.

Wiza said he hasn't decided whether he'll veto the bid if the council approves it Monday.